Sunday, July 27, 2008

There's nothing for dinner...

Do you ever have those days when you've spent so much time working on a project in the kitchen (homemade bread, a cake, jam, etc.) that you're too tired to cook dinner? I've had a few of those lately. I've had some serious fun making jam, baking for other folks, and gardening, but sometime after all that I just want to order pizza. And since I'm still taking the Eat Local America challenge, I should really focus on making practical meals.

Yesterday I realized that we had a TON of cucumbers. I pick 2-3 per day and we only eat 1 every few days. So it was time to make pickles. This time I used this recipe and added some chili peppers and grape leaves (to keep the pickles crisp). I'm always on a hunt for the perfect pickle recipe. Today after weeding the garden, I found another quart's worth of cucumbers. Of course- AFTER- I make pickles I find the hiding cukes.Amazingly enough, I still cooked some actual meals after making the pickles.

So here are some of the foods I've enjoyed in the last 2 days. Yesterday the kids and I went to the Farmer's Market and found some really awesome stuff. Perhaps our favorite thing to get is garlic bread from some folks that use local, organic flour. We sliced it up with some Veganaise, fresh local tomatoes, and basil from the garden to make some super good tomato sandwiches. I love that lettuce-leaf basil.

Last night I wanted soup for some reason (maybe because it was nearly 90 in our house and, like, 100% humidity). So here are the local veggies I rounded up for the soup:

Carrots from the farmer's market (hooray for local carrots!)The first sweet corn of the seasonlocal purple scallions from the co-opGarlic from the backyardlocal shell peas from the co-oppasilla chilies from the garden

I just simmered this up in a soup pot with a vegan bouillon cube. It sure was tasty.This morning I got to spend some quality time with the boys. We had tofu scramble with the aforementioned veggies, sesame semolina bread from the farmer's market, and "apple dippers" as mcdonald's would call it: Early crop tart apples dipped in wildwood plain yogurt with maple syrup and cinnamon. Plus some local raspberries.

Put the cucumbers in a colander and sprinkle with about 1-1/2 tsp. of the salt, tossing to distribute evenly. Put the onion in a small bowl and sprinkle with the remaining 1-1/2 tsp. salt, adding about 1 tsp. of the vinegar as well -- the salt and vinegar will mellow the bite of the raw onion. Let the vegetables stand for at least 10 minutes and up to 30 minutes and then rinse them in cool water and gently squeeze out excess moisture, blotting with paper towels if necessary.

Mix the cucumbers and onions. Add the oil, the remaining 1 Tbs. vinegar and a good grind of fresh pepper. Taste and add more vinegar if you like. Toss well with the dill. Chill for at least 30 minutes and serve chilled as a condiment-type salad with the chicken.

Pages

About Me

I like to cook. I like to garden.
I like to cook things from my garden.
Read on to learn about cooking and baking from scratch for our vegetarian family. My partner doesn't eat wheat either, so we usually eat gluten free and vegan. There's also a healthy dose of yoga talk, budgeting, and plugs for eating local and organic from your neighborhood co-op.